Patients at Mass General Hospital help each other recover from anxiety, isolation

Share

Shares

Copy Link

{copyShortcut} to copy
Link copied!

Updated: 5:58 PM EST Feb 7, 2018

Hide TranscriptShow Transcript

WEBVTT EMILY: YOUR HEALTH THISWEDNESDAY, AND WE PUT THE FOCUSON BRAIN ANEURYSMS.THEY CAN RUPTURE WITHOUTWARNING, AND KILL INSTANTLY.BUT FOR THOSE WHO SURVIVE, THESTRUGGLE TO RECOVER CAN BEEMOTIONAL AND ISOLATING.TONIGHT, HOW BRINGING THESEPATIENTS TOGETHER CAN HELP.>> IT'S PAIN LIKE YOU HAVE NEVERFELT BEFORE.>> PATRICIA DEFLUMERIWILL NEVER FORGET HER WORSTHEADACHE EVER, OR THE DATE.>> I HAD MY ANEURYSM ON DECEMBER12, 2014.>> ANEURYSMS ARE LIKE BALLOONSOF BLOOD.THEY DEVELOP WHEN THERE'S AWEAKNESS IN THE WALL OF ANARTERY.>> IT CAN POP LIKE A BALLOONPOPS AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS, APATIENT PRESENTS WITH AHEMORRHAGE.>> DR. AMAN PATELFIXED PATRICIA'S ANEURSYM ATMASS GENERAL HOSPITAL, AND SAYSSHE'S ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES.PATRICIA'S BRAIN STILL FUNCTIONSNORMALLY, BUT SYMPTOMS OF MEMORYLOSS AND EMOTIONAL CHANGES CANLINGER.>> EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESURVIVORS WENT THROUGH ALIFE-THREATENING EVENT, SOTHERE'S A CERTAIN AMOUNT OFPOST TRAUMATIC STRESS.>> CRISTINA MATTHEWS INVITEDPATRICIA TO JOIN A SUPPORT GROUPFOR SURVIVORS AT MGH.>> IT CAN FEEL VERY ISOLATINGWHEN YOU ARE EXPERIENCING ALL OFTHESE FEELINGS AND YOU DON'TREALLY KNOW WHERE TO GO WITHTHEM.>> IT'S COMMON FOR ORDINARYACHES TO TRIGGER EXTRAORDINARYANXIETY.>> I MIGHT FEEL A TWINGE IN MYHEAD AND I'D BE LIKE, OH MY GOD,IS SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENING?>> TERRY CURTIS SUFFERED HERANEURYSM JUST SIX MONTHS AFTERPATRICIA.THEY MET EACH OTHER AT THESUPPORT GROUP.GREG I WOULD IMAGINE -- >> IWOULD IMAGINE TRISH CANUNDERSTAND EXACTLY HOWTERRIFYING IT WAS WHEN ITHAPPENED.>> THAT KIND OF EMPATHY IS OFTENTOO MUCH TO EXPECT FROM FRIENDSAND FAMILY.SURVIVORS ALSO DON'T SHOW ANYPHYSICAL SIGNS OF WHAT THEY'VEBEEN THROUGH.>> AND I'VE HAD SO MANY PATIENTSSAY TO ME, EVERYONE KEEPSTELLING ME THAT I LOOK FINE BUTI DON'T FEEL FINE.I DON'T FEEL LIKE MYSELF.I'M NOT THE WAY I WAS BEFORE,WHICH IS 100% TRUE.>> PATRICIA RETURNED TO MGH LASTMONTH FOR A FOLLOW-UP PROCEDURE.TERRY SAT WITH PATRICIA'SHUSBAND IN THE WAITING ROOM, ANDWAS ONE OF THE FIRST FACES SHESAW IN RECOVERY.>> TRISH, HOW YOU FEELING?IT'S REMARKABLE.>>IT'S REMARKABLE.>> THE BONDS THAT THEY HAVEFORMED.IT'S BEEN SO WONDERFUL.>> MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THEYHAVE A BRAIN ANEURYSM UNTIL ITRUPTURES.CALL 911 IF YOU SUDDENLY HAVE ASEVERE HEADACHE UNLIKE ANYTHINGYOU'VE EVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE.OTHER SYMPTOMS INCLUDE VOMITING,

Brain aneurysm survivors share unique support after ruptures

Patients at Mass General Hospital help each other recover from anxiety, isolation

"It can feel very isolating when you are experiencing all of these feelings and you don't really know where to go with them," she said.

It's common for ordinary aches to trigger extraordinary anxiety.

"I might feel a twinge in my head," said Terry Curtis, another MGH patient who suffered a ruptured aneurysm just six months after Deflumeri. "And I'd be like, 'Oh my god, is something else happening?'"

Curtis met Deflumeri at the support group.

"Trish can understand exactly how terrifying it was when it happened," Curtis said.

That kind of empathy is often too much to expect from friends and family.

"[Curtis] will understand what my pain is and what my deficits are," Deflumeri said.

Survivors also don't show any physical signs of what they've been through.

"I've had so many of my patients say to me, 'Everyone keeps telling me that I look fine, but I don't feel fine, I don't feel like myself,'" Matthews said. "[They say,] 'I'm not the way I was before,' which is 100 percent true."

When Deflumeri returned to MGH last month for a follow-up procedure, Curtis sat with Deflumeri's husband in the waiting room.

"It's remarkable," Matthews said. "The bonds that they have formed, it's so wonderful."